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The application of kinetic theory to ideal gases makes the following assumptions: The gas consists of very small particles. This smallness of their size is such that the sum of the volume of the individual gas molecules is negligible compared to the volume of the container of the gas.
James Clerk Maxwell introduced this approximation in 1867 [3] although its origins can be traced back to his first work on the kinetic theory in 1860. [4] [5] The assumption of molecular chaos is the key ingredient that allows proceeding from the BBGKY hierarchy to Boltzmann's equation, by reducing the 2-particle distribution function showing ...
According to the assumptions of the kinetic theory of ideal gases, one can consider that there are no intermolecular attractions between the molecules, or atoms, of an ideal gas. In other words, its potential energy is zero. Hence, all the energy possessed by the gas is the kinetic energy of the molecules, or atoms, of the gas.
The kinetic theory of gases applies to the classical ideal gas, which is an idealization of real gases. In real gases, there are various effects (e.g., van der Waals interactions , vortical flow, relativistic speed limits, and quantum exchange interactions ) that can make their speed distribution different from the Maxwell–Boltzmann form.
Kinetic theory may refer to: Kinetic theory of matter: A general account of the properties of matter, including solids liquids and gases, based around the idea that heat or temperature is a manifestation of atoms and molecules in constant agitation. Kinetic theory of gases, an account of gas properties in terms of motion and interaction of ...
The ideal gas model has been explored in both the Newtonian dynamics (as in "kinetic theory") and in quantum mechanics (as a "gas in a box"). The ideal gas model has also been used to model the behavior of electrons in a metal (in the Drude model and the free electron model), and it is one of the most important models in statistical mechanics.
Van der Waals began work by trying to determine a molecular attraction that appeared in Laplace's theory of capillarity, and only after establishing his equation he tested it using Andrews' results. [35] [36] By 1877 sprays of both liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen had been produced, and a new field of research, low temperature physics, had ...
Boltzmann's kinetic theory of gases was one of the first attempts to explain macroscopic properties, such as pressure and temperature, in terms of the behaviour of individual atoms and molecules. Although many chemists were already accepting the existence of atoms and molecules, the broader physics community took some time to embrace this view.